BSA Conference
AI and Cybersecurity: Enhancing Cyber Response Capabilities Through Public-Private Partnerships – Combating New Threats in the AI Era

■Part 2: Roundtable Participants

Yoichi Iida
National Cyber Director
Deputy National Security Advisor

Yoichi Iida was appointed National Cyber Director and Deputy National Security Advisor on July 1, 2025, after serving as Deputy Chief Executive at the National Center of Incident Readiness and Strategy for Cybersecurity (NISC). He currently leads the National Cybersecurity Office, which formulates a national cybersecurity strategy and develops detailed rules of the Active Cyber Defense Act. Before joining NISC, he served as Director-General for Economic Security at the Cabinet Office. He supervised policy planning and implementation in the field of economic security, including the Economic Security Promotion Act (ESPA) and the Critical Economic Security Information Act (CESI Act). Prior to those appointments, Iida held several key positions in international trade and industrial policies during his 33-year career at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), including Director-General of the Trade and Economic Cooperation Bureau and Director-General of the Trade Control Department. In these roles, he was responsible for trade promotion policies such as trade insurance while strengthening security export control mechanism, inward foreign direct investment regulation as well as trade sanction against countries of concern for national and international peace and security. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Tokyo and a Master of Arts in International Development Policy from Duke University in the United States.

Suguru Nishimura
Deputy Executive Director, Secretary General,
Japan AI Safety Institute

Nishimura began his career at the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (now the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications) in 2000. In 2006, he served as Consul at the Japanese Consulate-General in Sydney. In 2009, he became Deputy Director of the Multilateral Economic Affairs Office, International Economic Division, Global ICT Strategy Bureau, where he was responsible for APEC, OECD, and EPA. In 2021, he served as Director of the National Healthcare Policy Secretariat at the Cabinet Office. In 2024, he was appointed Director of the Office of the Director-General for Cybersecurity at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. Since July 2025, he has been serving as Deputy Executive Director of the Japan AI Safety Institute and currently also holds the position of Secretary General.

Thimaya Subaiya
Executive Vice President, Operations
Cisco Systems

Thimaya Subaiya is Executive Vice President of Operations at Cisco, responsible for the company’s operations. He oversees Security & Trust, Supply Chain, and IT. Thimaya brings a strong track record of implementing growth strategies in the services and software businesses, balancing innovation, simplicity, and optimization to drive growth within Cisco. In Thimaya’s previous role as Cisco’s Chief Transformation Officer, he focused on accelerating Cisco’s shift to a software and as-a-service company to enable Cisco’s ability to deliver innovation to customers and partners faster while also providing increased predictability in the business. Prior to that, he served as Chief Customer Experience Officer, responsible for driving innovation in the Cisco Success Portfolio and accelerating customer adoption, partner engagement and overall growth for Cisco’s Services, a $13 billion business. Before joining Cisco, he was Chief Operations Officer of Customer Success and SVP of Global Marketing and Operations at Salesforce. He also held roles in business development and global planning and strategy. These roles uniquely position him to lead operations with a focus on revolutionizing Cisco’s operations for growth.

Marcus Bartley Johns
Senior Director, Head of North Asia
Microsoft Global Affairs

Marcus Bartley Johns serves as the Head of North Asia for Microsoft Global Affairs, based in Tokyo. He heads Microsoft’s government affairs team in North Asia and bring together multi-disciplinary Corporate, External and Legal Affairs efforts, helping governments, organizations and societies maximize the benefits of technology and manage risks in the AI era. His previous role at Microsoft was as Head of Asia Policy, based in Singapore and Tokyo, leading regional policy engagement with governments, regulators and policy stakeholders across Asia. Before joining Microsoft in 2018, he worked at the World Bank in Singapore and Geneva on policy reform projects with governments in Asia and represented the Bank at global forums like the UN, OECD and G20. He began his career as an Australian diplomat, with assignments in Geneva at the World Trade Organisation and United Nations, and in Bangkok working on regional economic cooperation and development in Asia. He holds an MSc in Finance and Economic Policy and a B.A. in International Relations.

Masashi Namatame
-Senior Managing Executive Officer,
Group Chief Digital Officer and Group Chief AI Officer,
Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company
-Representative Director, AI Governance Association

Masashi Namatame is the Senior Managing Executive Officer, Group Chief Digital Officer (CDO), and Group Chief AI Officer (CAIO) of Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company. Appointed to these roles in 2026, he brings nearly four decades of experience in the financial services industry to his leadership of Meiji Yasuda’s digital transformation and innovation initiatives. Previously, he worked at Tokio Marine group, where he built an extensive track record in various strategic management, serving in a number of senior leadership positions, including Senior Managing Executive Officer and Group Chief Digital Officer (CDO) and Senior Managing Operating Officer and Group CDO of Tokio Marine Holdings. Earlier in his career, he held leadership roles at The Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan, Financial Supervisory Agency (FSA), Deutsche Securities, Morgan Stanley Japan, Visa Worldwide Japan, and BlackRock Japan, developing deep expertise in international banking and financial management. In addition to his executive responsibilities, he has served as an outside director at several companies, including Mercari, Inc., ID&E Holdings Co.Ltd., and bolttech Holdings in Singapore. Since June 2026, he also serves as a Director of Monex Group. He received a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Tokyo and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Tetsuhito Gima
General Manager of CISO Office,
Security Innovation Management Department,
NTT DOCOMO, INC.

Tetsuhito Gima joined NTT DOCOMO in 2003 and engaged in research and development of wireless network infrastructure for mobile communications. Since 2015, he has been responsible for enhancing cybersecurity measures for telecommunications infrastructure and developing related security policies and guidelines. From 2019, he worked in the Security Operations Center (SOC), leading the detection and analysis of cyberattacks targeting ISP infrastructure and the fraudulent use of various services, as well as the implementation and enhancement of countermeasures. Since 2022, he has been serving in his current role, overseeing CSIRT operations and driving company-wide cybersecurity initiatives, including security incident response and measures to prevent service abuse.

■Part 2: Moderator

Hiroaki Sakuma
Executive Director and Secretary General
AI Governance Association

Hiroaki Sakuma is the Executive Director and Secretary-General of the AI Governance Association (AIGA), a Japanese industry consortium of some 150 member companies, where he leads standards development and policy advocacy. He previously developed AI- and data-related policies and regulatory frameworks at Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), and subsequently worked at Bain & Company Japan and Robust Intelligence, supporting companies in building AI governance frameworks and in AI threat intelligence. He serves as a member of the AI Governance Review Committee and the Study Group on the Statistics Act at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC), and of the Advanced AI Utilization Advisory Board of the Digital Agency. He also conducts sociological research on discourses of AI risk and visions of the future. He holds a Master’s degree in Socio-Information Studies and is the author of Anatomy of “AI Risk”: A Sociological Perspective on Decision-Making and Responsibility (Chuokeizai-sha, 2026).